About an American family with a summer cabin in the Stockholm archipelago. Information on island life, Swedish culture, design and building trends. And toilets.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Electrical bill

I received the summer electrical bill from Vattenfall yesterday. I had been waiting for this one as it represented the month we lived at the house, with all the lights and appliances, and especially Cinderella using power. I had posted earlier this year that I had hoped for about 3kr per 'flush'.

The invoice was mixed news. The good: I don't owe anything. Apparently I had a credit. The total charge for June and July was 746kr. The bad: I have no idea why I have a credit, plus I believe the summer charge was estimated and not actual. So I don't yet have an accurate picture of just how much it costs to live in the house. My financial reckoning is just delayed.

I spent this morning trying to figure out the bills and, frankly, I'm even more confused. My original thought of about 150kr a month for the connection charge seems right, but there appear to be different types of electricity at different rates. I'll bring the whole stack of invoices to Stockholm to see if Rutger or Janne can explain it all to me. I should also try to take an actual reading when I'm at the house; let's see if I can manage to do that accurately and without electrocuting myself.